


A Heart of Kyber

by dothdomarvelous



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Genre: (adopted), Cassian as an older brother, Cassian has a younger sister, Force Sensitivity, Gray Jedi, Hope, OC, Rebellion, eventual Cassian/Jyn, explores Cassian's past (ignoring most canon besides the essentials)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-16
Updated: 2018-04-16
Packaged: 2019-04-23 14:07:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14334105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dothdomarvelous/pseuds/dothdomarvelous
Summary: After his father dies fighting the Empire, Cassian is left on his own. He vows to take down the Empire any way he can, and he won't let anything get in his way. However, when he saves a young girl named Kyran from death, he suddenly finds himself in the position of protector, and eventually, a member of a new little family. As Kyran gets older, she has a growing desire to find out who her father is, all while fighting the Empire with her older brother. Secrets are revealed and Kyran and Cassian find themselves in a much more complicated situation then they ever thought possible.





	A Heart of Kyber

**Author's Note:**

> Ever since I watched Rogue One, I wanted to write a story about Cassian, and so, this story was born. It's been rolling around in my head for a while, and I just had to write it down. For now, it will jump in time back and forth from when Kyran and Cassian first meet to when they're fighting in the Rebellion. Thank you for reading! 
> 
> (This my first time posting on AO3 so I'm not sure how everything works... I know the description says that this is 1/1 chapters but this story will have at least 30. I don't know how to change that)

* * *

 

**14 BBY**

**GEONOSIS**

 

Geonosis was not a well-known planet. With a rocky, dusty crust and an endless sea of scorching red sand, most looked upon it with disdain. To any outsider, the planet seemed calm as the native bug-like Geonosians went about their daily business.

There was a storm brewing underneath the smooth exterior. A person could practically feel the tension as they walk down the main tunnel of the Geonosian trade market. The uniform lines of white-armored stormtroopers pushed through the crowds like a ship gliding on an ocean, and in the sky hung the mysterious distant gray orb of a secret Imperial project. Everyone just pretended to ignore it, as the wrath of the Empire was not a battle anyone could survive.

The anger and the fear felt by the native Geonosians had been growing until it seemed the very planet would burst at the seams. The furtive glances the native Geonosians cast toward the Imperial troops were bright with barely concealed fury. Immigrants kept their eyes to the ground to avoid Imperial inspection; their stiff walks barely concealing their distress. Geonosis seemed to be an unsurvivable soup of hate and dread, but a certain young Festian boy thrived on it.

Cassian Andor was never one to keep his head down and sit idly by. From the age of just six years old, he was fighting against the Empire in any way he could. When he lived in the rugged outer rims, he tossed rocks at Imperial troopers and droids. It was no different for him when he turned twelve in the rocky tunnels of the Geonosian cities.

Cassian walked down the main street of the market, his ears filled with the strange clicks of the Geonosian language. Shop owners in the market were known for their tenacity, driven by the desperation to make enough money to survive. Cassian fingered the few credits he had in his pocket, avoiding the beady eyes of any Geonosian. As a young human boy among hordes of bug-like aliens, he was an easy target for the shop owners to pick on.

The dust kicked up by the shoppers filled his nose until he could hardly breathe. A sudden sneeze burst out of him, his feet lurching forward a few steps. He sighed, running a hand across his forehead. Even though the rock tunnels of the Geonosian city shielded the people from the direct glare of the nearby star, they were still heated to an almost unbearable temperature.

Cassian pulled at his shirt, trying to get rid of some of the sweat that dripped down from his armpits to the waistband of his pants. He hated the heat. His heart longed for his home planet of Fest, with its cold climate and crust of glimmering snow. Unfortunately, his home on Fest was long gone now.

He jostled his way through the crowd, searching for a path that led outside. With a deep breath of relief, he burst free of the crowd and out onto the shifting red sands. High above him in the sky hung the stunning rings that surrounded Geonosis. Made up of many tiny asteroids, the rings were a haven for Imperial miners desperately searching for any scrap of minerals to aid their devastating cause. Just below the ring was a tiny gray dot. Cassian squinted, though he knew that the Imperial structure was too far out in space to see with the naked eye clearly.

He clenched one hand, wincing when the dirt beneath his fingernails ground against his palm. The outer rim planets were once far out of the reach of the Empire, but now not even the smallest planet escaped their power. Geonosis was unfortunately chosen as a place for the Empire to make a base. With their project present right outside the atmosphere, the Imperial troops were not going to leave the Geonosians alone any time soon.

Cassian wondered what the Empire was building that had to be kept such a dark secret. The other day, he had seen a human settler dragged off by a stormtrooper just for asking a friend about the project. He shuddered, remembering the man’s screams as the white soldiers dragged him away for asking an innocent question. Any slip up, and he would be gone just as quickly.

_You can’t give up, boy_.

Cassian shook his head sadly. It was as if he could hear the voice of his father, who was long gone, whispering in his ear and encouraging his son to continue. His father was killed protesting the Empire’s massive military expansion, and Cassian had promised himself that he would uphold his father’s name and continue what he had started. He had to.

“All troops are standing by and ready to go.”

Cassian’s head jerked around at the sound of a stormtrooper speaking into a radio. He crept back into a crevice in the rock slowly, watching the group of stormtroopers round the bend in the path and disappear into the tunnel. What were they planning?

Cassian looked down at his hands, his fingers gripping the stone. He hated how his hands trembled, dislodging small pebbles that rolled and clattered down the cracks and crevices until they landed in the sandy planet floor. He was a soldier fighting against the Empire. He couldn’t be afraid.

_Don’t show any fear_ . Cassian remembered what his father had said to him long ago. _To fight, you must be steady and strong. Nothing can unbalance you, nothing can distract you._

The young boy slammed his fist against the rock, pain shooting up his fingers as the sharp edges of the wall cut his fingers. He had sneaked onto a freighter and into Geonosis for a reason: find out what the Empire was doing. He wasn’t just going to leave without accomplishing his goal.

With a deep breath to clear his mind, Cassian stepped out from behind the rock and began to follow the pack of stormtroopers. He kept his feet light and his expression neutral. Anyone watching him must not know what he was doing.

When the troopers paused near one of the Imperial stations, Cassian dropped into a crouch, hiding behind the post of a booth selling food rations. He clutched the stone post of the booth with one hand, anchoring him while he leaned out into the path to watch the troopers. They milled around, grabbing blasters and some strange gray canisters. Cassian frowned. It was the biggest amount of stormtroopers he had ever seen in one place.

“Why are we using the gas?” One of the stormtroopers asked, tossing a canister in his hand a couple times before clipping it onto his belt.

“After the project is moved, the people on this planet are of no use to us.” A trooper with a yellow padded shoulder answered sternly. He must be one of the commanders.  “Sterilization is key to the survival of the Empire.”

Sterilization. The word made Cassian sick to his stomach. He felt bile rise in his throat, burning the back of his mouth. His vision went blurry as his mind scrambled to understand what was happening before him. He looked around at the people all around him. They were living beings, Geonosian or otherwise. They hadn’t chosen to be a host for the Empire, they hadn’t chosen to be killed.

Sterilization.

_I have to get off this planet._ Panic suddenly scorched through Cassian. Even though he wasn’t a settler or a native, he would not be excluded from the mass murder that was about to take place.

He struggled to stop his body from freezing with terror. He had to think of a way off the planet, a way that would be quick and easy.

Cassian forced himself to his feet, swallowed, then started to walk forward. When he passed by the stormtroopers, he held his breath, afraid that they could read his mind somehow and find out that he knew what they were doing.

He wanted to shout at them despite the danger. He wanted to yell and tell all the beings around him that their lives were in mortal danger. But he kept his mouth closed, biting his tongue until he tasted blood. He could not do that; he had to survive.

At the other end of the tunnel, he realized that the easiest way off the planet was the same way he had gotten on. Taking a freighter or stealing onto a smuggler’s ship would be quick; he had done the same many times before.

Turning his feet to the left, he began to walk to Geonosis’s busy port. Ships were constantly landing and taking off, so even the Imperial troops stationed around the area would not notice a small dirty boy sneaking onto a ship.

His eyes scanned the port, searching for a good ship. To his right was a small freighter that was being loaded with crates of rations. He started forward, hope rising in him.

An explosion suddenly ripped through the air behind him, throwing shards of rock into the air. Cassian turned, his ears ringing from the blast. Troopers were walking through the dust clouds, the gray canisters from before in their hands. One of the troopers threw a canister a few meters to the left of Cassian. He dropped to the ground instinctively, expecting another explosion, but this time he heard a dull hissing noise. He glanced up to see the canister spewing a noxious-looking purple gas. He gasped, scrambling to his feet and sprinting away from the quickly-spreading gas. People all around him were screaming and coughing, their throats burning from the poison that filled the air.

His stomach turned over when he had to jump over a fallen bundle of brown clothes. He could see the mangled face of a Geonosian pushed into the dirt. He clapped a hand to his mouth, retching into his fingers. He had never imagined that something like this could happen.

He pressed on, knowing that the crew on the freighter would take off and escape in the commotion. It was his only chance to escape.

He was just a few feet from the hatch when he heard the cry of a small human child. He turned. A small girl, only about three years old, was kneeling next to the body of a fallen woman. She was shaking the woman, her tiny hands clutching the robes of the woman. She was probably the mother of the young girl.

Cassian knew he should leave. And yet, he remained rooted where he was. The girl was screaming, her brown eyes filled with fear. Tears tracked down her red cheeks, her hair tangled and wild. Cassian shook his head, biting his lip.

A stormtrooper strode past the little girl, throwing a gas canister into the air. The purple gas exploded from it, creeping toward the unknowing girl. Cassian leaped forward without a second thought, running toward the girl. She winced when the gas finally reached her, her shuddering breaths drawing the gas in. She coughed violently.

“Hey!” Cassian yelled, reaching the girl. He grabbed her shoulder, hauling her away from the gas. His eyes started to burn, hot tears of pain falling in a steady stream. The girl shook her head, still coughing, and pointed to her mother. Cassian continued to pull her away.

“She’s gone, we need to go. I can save you,” he said. At first, he wasn’t sure if the girl was mentally stable enough to understand him, but soon she let him take her away. He sprinted toward the freighter, seeing the hatch begin to close. With one last burst of speed, he swung the girl onto the ramp and pulled himself on. He snatched his feet inside just as the hatch closed with a final click. He sat for a moment, panting. The girl was trembling. She scrambled back from Cassian, pressing her back agains the wall of the freighter. Her hands were cradling something, but he could not tell what it was.

The ship began to lift off. Cassian sagged in relief. He was safe. He looked at the girl in front of him. He had disobeyed his own rules. The girl was baggage, she would only slow down his quest to take the Empire down.

_I’ll drop her off at the next planet, someone will take care of her_ , he thought. He was only twelve, what could he do with a three-year old girl that demanded constant attention?

“What’s your name?” he asked.

“Kyran,” the girl answered. Her small voice was rough, probably from the gas. She would need medical attention on the next planet.

“I’m Cassian.”

Kyran tilted her head at him. “Cass?”

“No, Cassian. Not just Cass.”

The girl seemed like she was going to respond, but another round of coughing shook her body and cut her off.

“Hey!”

Cassian looked behind him. One of the crew was striding toward the kids. He worried for a moment that he would be kicked off; he should’ve hidden as soon as he made it onto the ship.

“Are you kids okay?” The crew member asked. He didn’t seem angry, just worried. Cassian relaxed.

“I’m okay,” was his short reply. “But she’s not.”

The man knelt down next to Kyran, putting out a cautious hand against her face.

“Did she breath in some of that gas?” he asked.

Cassian nodded.

The man took out a bottle and held it out to Kyran. “Drink some water, it’ll help.”

As Kyran drank, Cassian took in his surroundings. He noted all the different hallways and doors, watching the crew pass back and forth. He needed to be ready if anything happened.

“I can’t believe what’s happened on Geonosis,” the man sighed, screwing the cap back on his canteen. “It’s truly terrible. I’m glad you’re alright. I don’t think the captain will mind you hitching a ride to our next stop.”

Cassian nodded, scooting back against the wall. He refused to move; he could see all around him against the wall in case a fight broke out.

The man gave a tense smile to the two kids, seeming unsure what to do with the silent boy and the sick girl, then left with an awkward turn on his heel. Cassian glanced over at the girl. Kyran’s coughing had somewhat stopped, but her face was still rather red.

_Stop it_ , Cassian scolded himself. He shouldn’t worry about her, he had his own problems.

While he was thinking, the little girl had crawled over to him. Her face was covered in dust, and her clothes were tattered. Cassian recognized the seal of the Empire on her clothes; she was dressed like one of the captives in the labor camps. Her mother must’ve been a criminal, or at least one by the Empire’s standards.

Kyran hesitated for a moment, then slid into Cassian’s lap. Cassian curled his lip up, prepared to push her off. But when her arms snaked around his chest, he could feel her fits of coughing shaking her whole body. He decided to let her stay just for the trip.

Just for one trip.


End file.
